A NEGLECTED ASSET.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 71, 23 February 1932, Page 6

A NEGLECTED ASSET.

According to those .capable of judging, among them the officials of the New Zealand Tourist League, the amalgamation of the Government Tourist and Industries Departments under the one head, in the name of economy, has not proved an unqualified success. The League, in its annual report, points out that owing to demands made for special work in the Industries Department, the Tourist Department has not received the detailed attention it deserved. As a result of lessened national income, the publicity vote has had to be seriously reducecU-to £II,OOO, as against £35,000 two years ago. The need for meticulous care in keeping down State expenditure was never greater than at present, but there is just as great a need for seeing that one of the most important sources of income is not neglected by a short-sight-ed policy operated under the name of economy. Hitherto the Tourist Department has been regarded as the Cinderella of all the Government departments, though for a time its value was recognised and much needed encouragement in the way of financial help given it. Now that it has been merged with another office tl>re is a danger that funds which rightly should be available for tourist publicity may be absorbed in other and less profitable operations of the same department. The scenic attractions of New Zealand are an asset worthy of full exploitation—indeed this is an “industry’ 5 with a potential value to New Zealanders almost beyond the range of calculation. It has been demonstrated that a dependable tourist. traffic of considerable dimensions is worth building up—countries such as France and Switzerland earn tremendous revenues annually from this source—and only in point of distance from the potential tourist market is this Dominion at a disadvantage, for the attractions offering here are by no means less favourable than those in other countries. If the Tourist Department is to be neglected, as it seemingly is at present, the money already spent may be wasted, for it is in the followingup process that the full benefit of the earlier operations can be gained. The fault under review lies not in the general policy of the State in pruning its expenditure, but in the fact that money badly needed for a fruitful section of the Government’s operations is being used for other purposes which may not be so beneficial, due to the merging of the two departments. It is necessary to persistently combat the belief held by many people that tourist publicity is only a sideline to State operations. It should receive very sympathetic support whenever finance permits, because the reward to be derived from encouraging oversea visitors to come to New Zealand is one worth going after.